Stupak, Out

First it was John Cherry. Then it was Hansen Clark. Now, Bart Stupak wants no part of a gubernatorial run. U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak said Tuesday he won't seek the Democratic nomination for Michigan governor this year and instead will run for re-election to Congress, where he holds powerful committee ...

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“In the U.S., we spend more than any country on health care, yet American women are at greater risk of dying from pregnancy-related causes than in 40 other countries,” says Nan Strauss, the report’s co-author, who spent two years investigating the issue of maternal mortality worldwide. “We thought that was scandalous.”

No other industrialized country turns the health of its citizens over to the profiteering of private companies.

Founded in 2001 The National Association of Free Clinics (NAFC) is the only nonprofit organization whose mission is solely focused on the issues and needs of the more than 1,200 free clinics and the people they serve in the United States.

* Obstacles to care are widespread, even though the US A spends more on health care than any other country and more on pregnancy and childbirth-related hospital costs, $86 billion, than any other type of hospital care.

* Nearly 13 million women of reproductive age (15 to 44), or one in five, have no health insurance. Minorities account for just under one-third of all women in the US A (32 percent) but over half (51 percent) of uninsured women.

* One in four women do not receive adequate prenatal care, starting in the first trimester. The number rises to about one in three for African American and Native American women.

* A shortage of health care professionals is a serious obstacle to timely and adequate care, especially in rural areas and inner cities. In 2008, 64 million people were living in “shortage areas” for primary care (which includes maternal care).

* Many women are not given a say in decisions about their care and the risks of interventions such as inducing labor or cesarean sections. Cesarean sections make up nearly one-third of all deliveries in the USA – twice as high as recommended by the World Health Organization.

* The number of maternal deaths is significantly understated because of a lack of effective data collection in the USA.

The report concludes that these problems — most of which are preventable — aren’t just a health care issue; they’re a human rights issue.